When I ran for re-election in 2018, one of my promises was to support reducing the size of the County Board. My hope was for a graduated plan, starting with a reduction to around 21 for the 2022 election. That promise looks like it will be kept, and earlier than anticipated, as the County Board formed a structure advisory committee that has now recommended a reduction to 21. Over the next month or two, the proposal should come before the full board for consideration, and I will support it.
To see that promise, review my original statement from march of 2018 here: Promise to Reduce County Board Size
Some members of the community, primarily from the towns, are worried that the redistributing will be done in a way that will diminish the influence of Supervisors from the town. I don’t think that will happen. There are rules on how districts get set up, and those rules in general favor structuring districts with similar groups together. With that in mind, it is likely that districts that encompass the City of West Bend would not have large chunks of township lumped in with them. Instead, the City of West Bend would likely go from 6 Supervisors to 5 (or possibly even 4).
To be frank, I will be very skeptical of any redistributing plan that would retaining 6 Supervisors for West Bend. For those who live in the towns, that should be the yardstick by which you measure the fairness of the 2022 redistricting proposals. If the County Board goes down to 21, but West Bend keeps 6 Supervisory districts, then it is time to be skeptical. If instead West Bend goes to 4 or 5 Supervisory districts, then the plan is probably pretty fair.
While we can vote to reduce the number of Supervisors to 21 in the next few months, it cannot take effect until after the 2020 census is complete. Likewise, the redistricting cannot occur until after the 2020 census. Redistricting will happen in 2021, and be effective for the 2022 elections.
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